


dust from a distant sun

by verynearlysouffled



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Post-Episode: Revolution of the Daleks, enemies to who knows what with these two, the doctor and master both go by 'dad'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29977776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verynearlysouffled/pseuds/verynearlysouffled
Summary: The Doctor receives a mysterious letter with coordinates leading her to a very small and very alone baby. Except it could never be as simple as just that.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 42





	dust from a distant sun

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this art](https://noregya.tumblr.com/post/639203700397785088/they-both-knew-better-than-anyone-how-vast-and) by noregya.  
> 
> 
> title from crowded house's 'distant sun'.
> 
> also, big thanks to timelostdoctor for beta-reading and helping me out with this fic!

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed on the baby that she had held up in front of her.

“Do you promise not to spit up on me again?” she asked, with full sincerity. “Because I don’t have enough clothes onboard for you to spit up again.”

The baby stared back, a chubby fist reaching for her blonde hair. The Doctor sighed, pulling the baby closer to her chest and readjusting her grip, resisting the smile that tugged on her lips. “You’re lucky I like you as much as I do, honestly. Graham would never have gotten away with spitting up on my coat. Or Yaz.” She tilted her head, thinking. “Maybe Ryan would.” Her voice had been gradually lowering to a whisper as she rocked the baby in her arms back and forth, slowly pacing the console room. Maybe, just maybe, the baby would take the hint and go to sleep, allowing her to continue her investigations.

The TARDIS door slammed open and closed and the baby instantly started crying again.

“Is that a baby?” Yaz asked, and the Doctor huffed.

* * *

How she’d managed to find herself looking after a baby was still a mystery.

She’d received a blue envelope in the mail, nudged in between an old payslip from UNIT and some junk mail. It had taken a whole day for her to finally get around to opening it, but she had regretted that delay once she _did_ follow the included coordinates, because it led her straight to the baby.

(In her defence, she had once sent herself an ominous blue envelope with temporal-space coordinates for her past self to follow, and that time it had led her to her death. Sure she got over it, but it had been a close one. So sue her for ignoring the ominous blue envelope for a few hours.)

The coordinates had led her to a small, uninhabited planet only a hop, skip and a jump away from where Gallifrey had once stood. All scans for the planet only showed one sign of life, and under a shady tree, exactly as the note led her, she found the baby.

The baby couldn’t have been more than a couple of months old, and was very small, very loud, and very alone on the lonely planet. She was crying insistently, but once the Doctor stepped into view, the baby had calmed a little.

Instinct carried the Doctor through the motions, picking the baby up and effortlessly pulling her against her chest as she considered the small child. “Who would leave you here?” she said, voice soothing and light. Her head tilted down at the baby that nestled against her, its weight pressing against her in a way so desperately familiar and long forgotten.

“Someone clearly wanted me to help you out,” she said, a smile spreading on her lips as the baby’s cries finally eased to something more like polite interest, small bleary eyes gazing up at her. The baby seemed to like the warmth and comfort of another person, though the Doctor would argue, particularly after recent events in her life, who wouldn’t? Especially for a small infant after being left abandoned on an empty planet, though the Doctor sensed that something much larger had to be amiss for someone to send _her_ of all people after the child. “That’s what I do, see. I help people.”

She readjusted the baby in her arms, the child taking the opportunity to wave a little hand around without aim. The Doctor caught it with her free hand, thumb brushing against the soft skin soothingly. “Let’s get you out of here, eh? That big blue box over there’s my ship, the TARDIS. You’ll like her. She can travel anywhere in space and time, _and_ she has food for you. Probably. Do you like milk? I hope so, though we might need to do some tests first.”

With her new charge in her care and the budding investigation on her hands, the Doctor had a long list of priorities to work through. The list began with looking after the baby. A quick allergen test, and the baby was settled with a bottle of milk while the Doctor put the TARDIS in motion. It was tricky one-handed, but the TARDIS could be helpful when she wanted to be.

Now with Yaz on board, despite her alarming entrance, it had become easier for the Doctor to at least try and start doing some tests and scans. She’d (almost reluctantly) passed Yaz the baby, letting her coo and distract her while the Doctor focused on the basic tests. Species, lineage, health. As the TARDIS finally spit out the results though, the Doctor frowned.

“That’s not possible,” she said, peering her eyes closer at the swirling Gallifreyan on screen. Maybe she was reading it wrong? There was a thundering echo beating fast in her ears, but with steady hands she prodded at the TARDIS console until it stubbornly re-ran the provided DNA, cross-referencing it once again with the identification software. Two minutes later an identical result was on screen.

“Right, I see what you’re saying, but you’re wrong,” the Doctor insisted, turning to Yaz and accepting the baby back, staring intently at her as if trying to pull apart her every feature. “It doesn’t work like that!”

“What is it?” Yaz asked, brushing the small hairs from the infant’s forehead.

The Doctor took a deep inhale. “The TARDIS says the baby is a Gallifreyan.”

“Like you?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Sort of, but that’s not all. I ran her DNA against all known identities in the universe.”

“And?”

“Apparently I’m her biological ancestor. Her parent, specifically.”

“ _What_?”

“And the Master,” she admitted, the words almost getting caught in her throat. “The Master is her other biological parent.”

* * *

_Contact._

_Contact._

_Contact._

Her head throbbed with the effort, and hours later she still had nothing to show from it.

The Doctor had left the baby with a confused and worried Yaz, locking herself away in another room to try and contact him. She’d tried everything. She texted and rang his old phone number from when he’d been in disguise as O, she’d had her TARDIS reach out for his TARDIS, as well as any other TARDISes it could locate, just in case. And, finally, she’d tried to make a mental connection.

None of it worked.

With a groan, she gave up. They could all do with some dinner and Yaz would probably enjoy a break from solo baby duty.

* * *

The Doctor had found her old crib deep within the TARDIS storage rooms and brought it out into the main room of the TARDIS. The baby (she _really_ needed a name), was finally asleep inside and with great effort, the Doctor managed to slump next to Yaz on the stairway.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Not one bit of this.”

“No,” Yaz said tiredly. “What are you going to do?”

“Keep trying. He’s my only lead and he can’t ignore me forever.”

“No, I meant about the baby. Are you going to keep her?”

“She’s Gallifreyan,” the Doctor said, looking over at Yaz wearily. “Any number of species in the universe would do anything to get a hold of her DNA. They’ll torture and kill her, do experiments and turn her into a lab rat, use her as a weapon… I can’t- _**won’t**_ let any of that happen. This is the only place safe enough in the universe.”

“Does he really matter then?” The Doctor’s eyebrow raised, and Yaz elaborated. “Whether he’s actually the parent or not, or had any part in it. It’s not like you’re going to pass the baby off to him. He isn’t exactly parent material.”

“No,” she said, hearts aching at the words. “I’m going to try again.”

“Doctor!” Yaz called out when she was halfway across the room. She turned around. Yaz smiled, tired and small. “I’m here, you know that, yeah? I’ll help, and you know Graham and Ryan will too. And Jack! You don’t need him or his answers, if he has them at all. She has all of us.”

_You know, you act like such a lonely man. But look at you. You've got the biggest family on Earth._

Parenthood on Gallifrey was rather unlike how it looked on Earth. That had been one of the biggest culture shocks when first coming to Earth, seeing people choose to raise children with just one other person. Not all, of course, and the traditions varied wherever you went, but it was still so prevalent. That wasn’t even to get into the differences in reproduction. As it was, she had no idea how this child had come to existence. Had the Master taken a loom before destroying all of Gallifrey? He must have done, as there were little other possibilities for the _how_. But the _why_ felt even more important, if it was indeed his fault. Why did he choose to loom (or otherwise combine) their DNA? Why did he leave this baby without protection, leaving the Doctor to follow the clues to find her?

The questions were infinite, but maybe Yaz was right. Maybe she should share the tricky and good bits with them, and ignore the rest.

Her lips tightened into a smile, forcing back the odd nausea she was feeling and she nodded. “Thanks, Yaz.”

* * *

It took three weeks before the doors to the TARDIS both slammed open, and the Doctor, who had been almost constantly reaching out telepathically, jumped back in surprise, mind retracting like a slingshot.

Yaz, who was holding onto the baby, immediately backed further into the room, arms shifting to hold the baby closer and better prepared to run.

“It’s alright, Yaz,” she said, watching his steady steps forward into the TARDIS. His jaw was tight, lips pursed, and his eyes were narrowed entirely upon her. She considered him in turn, her hands moving to her hips, eyebrow raising as she waited for him to speak.

“Yet, for some funny reason, my head is _not_. Don’t you know what someone ignoring you means?” the Master said, stopping a step away from her, eyes frantic and wide as they stared straight into her own.

She pressed on, voice low as she said, “Was this you? Did you do this?”

“Do what exactly?” he said, with a quirk of his lips.

“Was she some sort of sick experiment to try and ruin my life? Did you really think trying to destroy an innocent baby’s life would be the way?”

He laughed without humour, stepping back with a dismissive wave as he turned away, eyes drifting across Yaz and the baby for just a second. “No, this wasn’t me. I don’t experiment on children.” Then, the laughter slipped away from his voice, all sincerity as he tossed a memory device to her. “But fine. Here are your answers.”

She turned it over in her hands for a moment, before walking over to the console and plugging it in. The TARDIS took a moment first, checking it wasn’t riddled with viruses or a bomb, before suddenly, a video stuttered into view.

The Doctor stepped back from the console on instinct as her own face appeared on screen, seated before the camera with a solemn expression. Except something about the image was wrong. Hair too long, ears maybe a little bit off. It was almost insignificant changes, but enough to ring as something _other_.

* * *

_“Hello, Doctor. If that is your name too. I hope it is, anyway. Either way, I’m the Doctor, and that beauty you have there is my child. I am speaking to you from another universe where things aren’t as nice as your own. Again, I’m hoping, anyway. Lot of guesswork involved, I’m afraid. But this was important enough that I had to risk it._

_“Our universe is shrinking, imploding rather. Long story short, there was a war and this is all that’s left. This tiny little TARDIS is the eye of the storm and I’m reporting straight from it. Your universe is fine, I made sure that our little problem stays our side of the universe boundary, but I couldn’t let Estelle stay if I could at all help it. Which is why I’m reaching out to you._

_“That’s her name, by the way. Estelle. Simple. Not quite traditional Gallifreyan, but I’m not sure that’s a legacy we want carried on anyway. Earth has been a kinder planet to call home. Essie is two months old. She has the loudest cry I’ve ever heard in my life. She loves it when you blow raspberries on her stomach. She hates it when you sing to her unless you play with her hair at the same time. Her favourite toy is a Pting plushie. She’s the best thing in this universe._

_“Please look after her. I know she isn’t really yours, but she needs someone. And if you’re anything like me, and I’m **really** hoping you are, then you know that when someone needs help, we never refuse._

_“And Master, if you’re there too… Sorry I didn’t really mention you. Feels a bit wrong talking across universes to my dead husband. You’ll look after her too though, right? She’s had a rough go, our girl, and she deserves something as close to both her parents in her life again._

_“Thank you.”_

* * *

The video message disappeared to black, and the room was thrown into silence.

The Doctor was the first to move. A pair of squashed 3D glasses from their last movie night were easily drawn deep from her pockets and she steadily watched the swirling indicators of the void flutter across Estelle. Yaz, still holding the baby, was also in view and completely clear. The Doctor spoke in a low voice now, a sigh weaving through the words, “Void stuff.” Slipping the glasses back into her pocket she looked at the Master. “How’d you get that?”

“Same way you found her, I assume,” he said, with a gesture in Estelle’s direction. “I received a letter in the mail, followed the coordinates, found her.”

She shifted, her fists clenched tight as she took one steady step towards him. “But you left her!” With another step forward, her voice shook as she said, “You left an innocent baby, pinching the note left with her!”

He rolled his eyes, a heavy sigh accompanied with a dismissive and halfhearted shrug. “Your TARDIS landed and I figured she was fine. Apparently I was correct. She’s still alive, after all.”

The Master’s cavalier answers had been building a fire within her, but it was this flippant response that finally prompted a huff from her, hands shoving him backwards before she even realised she’d marched all the way up to him. “You left her and then ignored me! For three weeks! While holding onto this incredibly important information!”

The Master took a step back towards her, his nostrils flared, the anger rising in his eyes. She raised an eyebrow, ready for the argument, the battle of wills, when suddenly, like a switch was flipped, he took a breath and rolled his eyes. “ _Sorry_ ,” he drawled, the sarcasm dripping, “Is that what you want to hear?”

“It’s a good start!” A beat passed between them, her glare steady before with a small huff she turned away, hand waving him off as she said, “Well, I got my answers. You can go now.”

“Is that it?” He raised an eyebrow. “You pester me for three weeks straight, leaving me with a migraine, but I can piss off at your will?”

“Can you just do the right thing for once? For everyone’s sake?”

“I think I will. I’ll listen to my parallel universe wife for starters.”

**Author's Note:**

> i've written most of this already and know where i am going with the end, so it shouldn't be too long to finish it, just depends on how many chapters it takes to wrap it up. comments and kudos are always appreciated, and you can find me on tumblr @dontwanderoff 🥰


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